Nine on Your Side talked with the owner, Watson Sutton off-camera. He started tearing up as he talked about the man who worked here for 41 years. He says Elwood Hill was the most admirable, honest, and hard-working man he ever met.

Sutton says Hill would usually come into work early, between 5:30 and 6 to load and deliver bricks. Today, he only had one load to deliver before going to the beach with his wife.

“I mean what was the purpose you know,” asked Ed Harris. Harris works at Bobby’s Auto across the street from Sutton Brick and considered Hill a friend. “He’ll be across the street. He’ll holler, I’ll hear somebody hollering my name. He’ll wave and throw his hand up.” Harris says he felt safe working where he does, until now. “I thought that was very disturbing because I’ll be at this shop sometimes one or two o’clock in the morning and I’ll be down there by myself,” he said. “The same thing could happen to me. They really need to do something about this crime rate around here.”

“People, it seems these days are different than they were in the past,” said Spencer. “That’s neither here nor there. This person was murdered and we intend to find out who did it.”

We tracked down the criminal activity in Kinston this year. Hill’s death is the fourth murder in Kinston since January. There have also been 24 robberies and 233 assaults during that time, of those, 47 were assaults with a deadly weapon.

Police Department PIO Woody Spencer tells Nine On Your Side that a Kinston Waste & Disposal crew found the body of 63-year old Elwood Hill Friday morning lying on the ground in the brick company’s gravel parking lot.

Hill was an employee at Sutton’s Brick. Spencer says he had an apparent gunshot wound. Police tell 9OYS they are investigating a robbery they believe led to the shooting.

The Sutton’s Brick owner says Hill worked there for 41 years. The owner says Hill lives in Moss Hill outside ofKinston and has a wife and two sons who live out of state. Sutton’s Brick is located on the corner of Park Avenue and MLK Blvd. That’s beside Coastal Wholesale Grocery.

Investigators are on the scene. A red tarp has been hung to cover the crime scene.

Nine On Your Side’s Andrea Blanford is on the scene and will have more details as soon as they become available.